“If you hold on an apple long enough, eventually it turns into light.” That isn’t the kind of sentence one would expect at the beginning of an interview with a musician. Paris Sandford however leans fully into this thought. Matter cannot be destroyed or created, he explains. So when you leave an apple untouched in a sealed box for an infinite amount of time, everything the apple was made up of will eventually find its way back together.
Aside from the theory, what stood out was the energy Paris carried. It was not his own, but a theory his cousin referenced often. Yet, the songwriter recounts the theory with the same excitement as he later gives towards his music, his family, and the woman inspiring his music.
It doesn’t take much time to realize that with every conversation, Paris circles back to the same place. Love.
“Love and passion are the two things that drive me forward”, he says.”Love for my career. Love for my girlfriend. Love for my family, and it shows in my personality and in just how passionate I am about life”.
Most conversations with musicians revolve around release dates, production credits, and stories about their newest song. While Paris was preparing for the release of his debut project, Better Person, it became clear that the song was not the most interesting part of this conversation, but how he got there. Long before Paris Sandford became a musician, he was simply a person who loved deeply. His family, his work, the people around him, and the life that he is currently building. Music is just one of his expressions of the love he has.
For Paris, music had always been deeply tied to people, places, and memories. His first memories of music came from the road trips his family would go on in the UK, where his dad would play 90s hits. Paris’ appreciation for music only grew from there. Eventually the artist discovered Ed Sheeran, which he says pushed him towards becoming a singer-songwriter. First was learning piano from tutorials on YouTube. Then eventually guitar. From there, the young musician began to take the songs outside of the comfort of his home and onto the streets of Bath busking with his friend. Paris recalls, “my dad would drive us… and on the drive home we’d count up for honestly what was a lot of money for just two 15 year olds, and split it. That was the minute I realized that I could make a living doing what I was already loving to do”.
As Paris continued to immerse himself into music the more he found himself wanting to push further. The music industry is one which is hard to break through, but once the ball starts rolling, it’s hard to stop. The busking eventually turned into gigs, and the passers-by’s heading off to work turned into people who showed up to see Paris perform. A turning point which solidified Paris’ path was at a battle of the bands at Trowbridge Town hall. By the end of his band’s performance of Mr Brightside, the room was packed full of people singing along. Despite his story-like journey with music, Paris still acknowledges, “I’m still on that journey, but everyday is a step in the right direction”.
Despite being born and raised in the UK, Paris eventually found England to be stagnant for his ambitions. In addition, he faced more and more friction as he continued down a path that many saw more as a passion and less as a path that could be successful. Coming to Canada the artist says “the average person I meet genuinely doesn’t care what I do for a living as long. As long as they’re happy and I’m happy, there’s no friction”. Instead of forcing him to change, Canada accepted Paris and gave him permission to dive in head first. Since arriving nearly six years ago, Paris has been focusing intensely on being a musician and putting his work out.
Paris’ forthcoming project, encapsulates his passions and ambitions into a heartfelt track. He adds, “This project is about becoming a better person through finding the person who makes you want to be that person”. For Paris, that person is his girlfriend who helped to secure a producer for this project. In describing their two-year relationship, it is evident that Paris’ passion has no limits, especially when it comes to the love and appreciation he has for his partner.
This specific project is about love mainly because that is the feeling he is experiencing most intensely right now. He explains, “I write about love and loss. Those are emotions that a lot of people relate to and they’re both difficult things to navigate as a person. Being in love is an intense feeling and losing something you love is an even more intense feeling”.
To Paris, love is a force strong enough to inspire change. It’s easy to pick up bad habits and stay comfortable when on your own. When the right person comes along however, there’s a small change that happens in one’s brain which makes them want to become a better person for their partner.
One line in particular stands out: open up my life; cut out every part that’s hurting. Though Paris stumbled into the line while trying to put the chorus together, it perfectly sums up the message Paris has been trying to share. The track Better Person takes a raw exploration of the hidden strength love gives.
Though raw and emotionally honest, Paris’ lyrics are crafted in a way almost anyone can relate to. He attributes it to being “generally specific”. He continues, “it’s an experience I have felt, but i’m not using exact times or locations. I’m trying to phrase it in such a way that people can relate to rather than view it. I don’t want people to have to intellectualize what I’m saying”.
Paris uses songwriting to take something that belongs entirely to him and make enough room for someone else to find themselves in it. Better Person begins with his own experience of love, but it doesn’t end there. The details may belong to Paris, his relationship, and the life he is building, but the feeling is deliberately left open. In the same way he sees love as a force capable of changing who we are, he sees music as a way of passing that feeling on. Maybe that is why he is bringing himself center stage with a song about becoming a better person. Before the music, there was simply something, and someone, worth becoming better for.
Words: Elizabeth Lokang
Photography: Hector Omooba
Management: AJW Management
